UMSL suspends student newspaper for summer
The university cited poor business practices as cause for suspension.
Published July 8, 2009
University of Missouri-St. Louis has suspended its student newspaper, The Current, and blocked the paper's access to university resources and funding until Aug. 1. The university also terminated the positions of The Current's employees until the suspension is lifted.
"A partial suspension of the paper's student privileges was implemented because off and on over the years the student newspaper has had issues relative to its business side, and the office of student life saw that those issues needed to be rectified before they could go forward," UMSL spokesman Bob Samples said. "Some of its privileges revolved around their financial situation, such as paying reporters, but they still had space on campus and access to their facilities."
The Current Editor-in-Chief Jessica Keil said she had a casual conversation with UMSL Office of Student Life Director Miriam Huffman a few days before The Current received a letter from the university informing the paper of the suspension. She said Huffman said the newspaper's paperwork filing could use some tweaking and things could be cleaned up in the paper's business department. Huffman informed Keil that The Current would be receiving a letter outlining what needed to be done.
But the letter sent to The Current on May 28 contained a notice of suspension for the paper, not a message delineating what changes needed to be made in the paper's business department. The letter listed violations the paper committed, including failure to comply with direction of university officials.
Keil said the terminology was vague and the suspension raised a legal issue of violation of due process.
"To suspend the newspaper for allegations that they wont tie to any real world event ever is contrary to the basic expectations that you would expect a government entity to use," said Adam Goldstein, Student Press Law Center attorney advocate. "You have to give an explanation, you have to say the words."
The other violations regarded documents The Current needed to submit for taxes to be employed by the university and forms the newspaper should have presented before hiring a student.
"The bottom line is the student newspaper had a very lax oversight of the business operations, and the university is trying to clean that up," Samples said. "It has been an ongoing problem."
Keil said although the paper has had issues with leadership in the past, including a turnover in the editor-in-chief position mid-year, she doesn't believe the partial suspension is what's best for the future of The Current.
"If the university wants to help us and it is a learning institution, then rather then suspending us and tying our hands, they should be working with us," Keil said.
The suspension will be lifted once the Office of Student Life trains a new business manager and Keil as the new editor-in-chief. UMSL will also have to revise and approve the newspaper's constitution.
"The biggest issue that people misunderstand is that the administration here feels that from an editorial standpoint the paper is excellent," Samples said. "We are just trying to clean up the business side."
